City remembers Harbor council member Michael "Mick" Heinz

Visitation for Harbor Springs City Council member Michael "Mick" Heinz will take place today, Friday, from 5-8 p.m. at Schiller Funeral Home in Harbor Springs. A funeral will take place beginning 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, at the VFW Post 2051 in Petoskey.

Harbor Springs lost an active member of its community Tuesday, April 10.

Council member Michael "Mick" Heinz, 67, died earlier this week after combating an illness. Until the time of his illness, he was an active member on the Harbor Springs City Council, and spoke for a generation of Harbor Springs residents who grew up in the town.

"I think he represented a part of the community that hadn't been represented for a long time," said mayor Al Dika. "He represented the people that were raised here, went to school here, saw the development here, and could remember back to when trains used to bring people up here. He knew the history of the town way better than I do."

Harbor Springs is where Heinz not only was born, but graduated from in 1963, and returned to after serving in theU.S. Armyfrom 1966-68, during which he was stationed in Vietnam.

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He married Madaline Peterson in Harbor Springs on Dec. 5, 1970, and they settled in Harbor, where Heinz began working for the city.

Dika relied not only on Heinz's life experience in Harbor Springs, but his knowledge of the inner workings of the town as well. Heinz worked in the Department Works for more than 30 years, much of that time as a supervisor.

"There are so few people in Harbor ... only 1,100 of us now, and most are probably newcomers. People like Mick have moved away, and I hope to find another person like him to fill his seat," said Dika. "It was a huge loss."

Heinz had served three full, two-year terms on council and had been re-elected to his fourth term in November of 2011.

He centered not only his professional life around Harbor Springs, but his personal life as well.

"I'm at a loss for words about Mick. He was a very down-to-earth and passionate person in terms of his care and respect for the community, and the values of the locals in the community. Just his commitment to the community in terms of an employee first, but also by helping to steer the ship by serving on council," said city manager Tom Richards. "It's just a very unusual thing, for someone to have that level of commitment to the community."

Heinz wasn't satisfied to just serve on city government. He also held a position on the Harbor board of education for eight years from 1983-1991, was a president and coach for Little League, founded and coached a flag football team, served as a Boy Scout leader and worked at the side of football games marking yardage.

"I really respect that people sometimes have opinions about how things should be, but it's a whole different level to shape policy and plans and take an active role in making it better as opposed to just being critical," said Richards. "I wish more people would do that."

Friends may call at Schiller Funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today, Friday. A celebration of his life will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 13, at the VFW Post 2051 in Petoskey.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the VFW Post or the American Legion Post 2081.